Space Pioneer 1 - 11. Chapter 11

Lest contacted ground control and they gave him permit to descend to the hangar section where the Horus was parked.

"They let us in quickly. They might be already waiting for us," Lest said.

"Why then don’t you stop the landing approach?" Jeff asked.

"I devised a plan. My experiences on planets like Cyrus have certainly paid off. We’ll tell them we’re two pilots in the service of Ezer Malk," Lest said with a grin.

A message came in. Lest listened and then he gave Jeff a meaningful look.

"The hangar company transmitted a message. It said the Horus was ready for take-off like Ezer Malk had instructed. I told you that his influence reaches this far. Anyway, this simplifies the matter."

"He actually wants to capture the Horus," Jeff said in disbelief.

"He rightly assumes that I have transferred the data of your ship to the Horus," Lest said.

"His men must be on the way," Jeff replied. "The hangar company is expecting them."

"I suspect they left Daglon a couple of hours after us with a faster ship," Lest said. "They have not yet arrived. Time is on our side. I’m sure we’ll make it."

"They’ve unlocked the Horus," Jeff said. "This is plain incredible."

"I will enforce security measures once we’re back in space. I’ve made a mistake, Jeff. I underestimated Ezer. I won’t make the same mistake again," Lest said. "Now, let’s go down and get my ship, then pick up my crew and get out of the solar system. We’ll jump far out into space and make a few more jumps to cover our trace."

The ship touched down and rolled into the assigned hangar.

"Let me do the talk," Lest said. "Once you open your mouth, they’ll now you’re not Daglon."

"Won’t they recognize our faces?" Jeff asked.

"All Daglon men look very much alike. They’ll rely primarily on the sent codes and digital information, a common mistake in these days. Just don’t put your finger with the chip on any device," Lest said. "And we must leave our bags behind. They mustn’t see the Horus ship overalls we’ve taken along, of course."

The ship halted and they got off. An employee of the hangar company awaited them. He eyed them warily.

"I trust you return the cruise vessel without any malfunctions. Else the travel agency will give me hell," he said.

"We wouldn’t have made it here with a malfunctioning ship," Lest replied. "Ezer Malk had the men arrested when their cover blew. They claimed to be business men on a fun trip to Daglon, but in reality they were undercover agents. They wanted to spy on the space artifacts that Ezer Malk stores in his museum. Their attempts were hopelessly amateurish. Ezer Malk learned they came to Ephos in a Daglon warship. They must have stolen it. Where is it?"

The man pointed at a gate. "In the next hangar. It’s ready for take-off. If you would confirm your arrival, please," he said, holding out a device to them.

"Wait a minute," Lest said, touching his temple. "I’m getting a message. Commander, would you please go and check on the warship?"

Jeff instantly walked off to the gate. The employee made a few steps after him.

"Wait," Lest shouted after the man. "I’m the captain. I’m the chief of this operation."

The man turned back to Lest and waited resignedly. Jeff crossed the gate and caught sight of the Horus. The ship stood on the runway. The hatch was open and the lights were on. Jeff approached the ship with a haughty demeanor. Two engineers were standing on the runway. Their skin was grayish and their skulls were prolonged. The men were clearly not Daglon. There was a good chance they would not realize he wasn’t Daglon either, because they would communicate via their neural implants.

"Ezer Malk sent us to get the ship. Is everything ready?" Jeff asked, not stopping his steps.

He approached the entrance. The engineers followed him. Jeff gave them a questioning look.

"The main computer has an additional lock," one of the men said. "We were able to move the ship to this hangar and activate the general systems, but you can’t take off without the main system unlocked."

"Thanks," Jeff said with an acknowledging nod and entered the Horus.

The engineers looked after him, but remained standing on the runway. Jeff went directly to the bridge and sat down in the navigator’s seat. He checked the controls and displays. The main controls were dead. Jeff leaned back. A couple of minutes went by, then Lest came running on the bridge. He sat down in the pilot’s seat and started to activate the main system. The controls and displays went on.

"I had to knock down that persistent employee. He didn’t stop bothering me with his identification gadget. Now let’s get out of here before they will close the hangar," Lest said.

"What about the engineers on the runway?" Jeff asked.

"I told them to run. I guess they understood the urgency of the matter," Lest replied.

He focused on the controls and pressed a few buttons. The ship was rolling towards the hangar opening. Ground control asked them to halt the ship instantly.

"Screw you," Lest said drily and cut off the connection.

He accelerated the spaceship. The ship shot out into open space. An alarm started ringing.

"Incoming spaceship on collision course," Jeff shouted.

Lest hit a button. "Computer. Course correction," he said.

The ship climbed up abruptly. Jeff and Lest were pressed into their seats. The alarm stopped and a couple of minutes later the ship flew smoothly through space. Lest plotted the course to Heket. He was entering commands.

"What are you doing?" Jeff asked.

"I’m reprogramming the ship’s registration code," Lest said. "Ezer will give out the code we used to land on Ephos to all spaceports in the solar system. We can’t land on Heket with the former code."

"It seems that hacking codes is essential in the space business," Jeff said.

"It’s indeed vital," Lest replied with a grin.

An hour went by. Jeff wiped his eyes.

"Tired?" Lest asked.

"Thirty-two hours without sleep," Jeff said.

"One more hour," Lest said. "Le’Ton has just sent me a message. They have arrived at Heket and will be waiting for us in the transit area of the spaceport, unless they will be arrested. I’ll wait until the very last minute before I contact ground control."

"Won’t they recognize the type of the ship by sight?" Jeff asked.

"Sure," Lest said. "They will see a Daglon warship. I can’t make it a cargo vessel. I’ll use the code of an active warship, though. My men can’t reprogram their finger chips and change their identity codes. Ezer certainly gave the codes out that the men used to enter Daglon. We’ll pretend that Daglon security sent us to pick up the men, criminals on the run."

Jeff stared at Lest in disbelief. "Do you really think you’ll get through with this plan?"

"I don’t have much of a choice, have I?" Lest asked, glancing over and then turning back to the controls.

Jeff studied Lest. The man had two personality sides. On Daglon, he had shown his sensitive side. His actions were driven by personal motives, his father’s death, Ezer’s betrayal. Lest didn’t lack emotions at all. He had been able to relate to Jeff’s feelings and he had supported him several times. Lest had a sense for fairness and justice and he clearly cared for others. He took an enormous risk to pick up his crew. Lest had made a mistake. He had underestimated Ezer, but he had admitted his mistake without trying to blame others for it, which in Jeff’s eyes spoke in favor of Lest.

Lest’s other personality side was darker. Once on board of his ship, he had returned to captain mode. Lest was an outlaw and commanded a stolen ship, he ran his own business and operated illegally in space. Jeff had seen Cyrus, the shady place, where the captain was well-known and acknowledged. The captain was reckless and his morals were doubtful, his actions leaned clearly towards the criminal. Lest was smart and clever and able to push concerns aside. He wasn’t bold, however. His plans were well thought-out, even when he needed to devise them quickly. Lest was a man who could easily trick and cheat others and without scruples did so if necessary. His keen mind made him dangerous, but Lest didn’t act on intellect alone. His actions were also determined by emotions.

Lest hadn’t seen through Ezer Malk. The man had tricked him completely. Jeff wondered how Lest would take his failure on the emotional side. Lest combined a keen mind and hurt feelings. Was this combination a ticking bomb?

Lest gave him a questioning look. Jeff realized he had been staring at him.

"I was just wondering what I’ve gotten involved in," Jeff said.

Lest smiled briefly. "No time for second thoughts, commander," he said. "We’ll touch down in a couple of minutes. I’ve informed Le’Ton via a secret intercom line. They’ll play along. Now I must inform ground control of our mission."

Jeff leaned back and closed his eyes. The operation was chanceless in his opinion, but what could he do? He had to play along as well.

Ground control cleared the ship for landing. Lest descended the Horus and followed the instructions. The Daglon warship was directed to a hangar. The place looked much like the one on Ephos. The ship halted and Lest powered down the system.

"You’ll stay on board, Jeff," he said, rising to his feet. He hurried from the bridge.

Jeff sat silently, staring at the displays. He expected police or security staff to enter the ship at any moment. Nothing happened, though, and Jeff allowed himself to relax. Half an hour passed by and Jeff wondered what was going on outside. Finally, he heard voices. Lest entered the bridge, followed by Le’Ton, Corr, Doctor Midad and the two engineers. The men had wide grins on their faces. Lest held his thumb up.

"Now let’s get out of here," he said, unable to hide his relief.

The engineers left the bridge and the other men sat down.

"Make ready for take-off," Lest commanded. "Le’Ton, plot a course to the edge of the solar system. We’ll jump far out into space and make a few more jumps to cover our trace."

The men strapped to their seats. Corr contacted ground control and Le’Ton checked the navigations systems.

"Ground control, requesting clearance for take-off, Daglon warship DWS114," Corr said.

Ground control answered promptly and the Horus took off. The ship reached the jump point a couple of hours later.

"Jump drive activated," Corr announced.

The sound of the engines changed.

"All right," Lest said. "Three jumps in quick succession."

A short while later, the Horus was far away from the Daglon solar system. The spaceship was floating in outer space on autopilot. The men assembled in the galley.

"This was a close escape. They arrested us when we got off the charter ship and locked us up in a room. Ezer Malk had given out our identification codes," Le’Ton recounted.

"Luckily, our captain was very convincing," Corr said. "They had no doubt he was Ezer’s henchman."

"I would appreciate it if you filled us with the details, captain," Doctor Midad said. "My hasty departure somewhat disturbed my friends. It was past midnight when I woke them and after a brief goodbye stormed out of their house."

Corr gave a laugh. "You should have seen my sister and her husband. They actually threatened to call emergency when I packed my things in the dead of the night."

"Well, I was lucky then," Le’Ton said. "I had just left a party and was waiting at an air taxi stand. It took me to the Khonsu spaceport."

Lest informed his crew. An excited discussion followed.

"I agree with you," Le’Ton said. "Ezer Malk is up to something."

"He last approached you on Cyrus two years ago, didn't he? Why didn’t he approach you again?" Midad asked.

"I think he found another pilot," Lest replied.

"He just wanted to retrieve information from us. He’s interested in Earth’s co-ordinates. Why else should he have tried to capture the Horus? Lest transferred the data of my ship to the Horus computer," Jeff said.

"We need to find out about Ezer’s plans," Doctor Midad said.

"We can’t return to Daglon. This would be far too dangerous," Corr said. "We must operate via the intercom. We need to gain access to his computer systems."

Lest nodded thoughtfully. "We need to enforce our security systems first. They unlocked the Horus. This must not happen again," he said.

"The ships needs a general overhaul, captain," Le’Ton said. "The ship is twelve years old. We need a hardware and software update."

"This operation will cost us a lot of credits, but I think the Mohic Empire will gladly pay for it," Lest said with a wink at the men.

The Horus floated in outer space for a couple of days. The men rested and checked on their ship. Then they flew to Cyrus to wrap up a deal. They exclusively worked for the Mohic Empire the following weeks.

***